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he Sunday before this year’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., Robert

Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects President Bruce Charlton met Rickie Fowler for a practice round. Just before the two were sched-

uled to connect at 8 a.m., Charlton received a text from Fowler. “Is it OK if I have a couple guys

come along?” Fowler asked. Fowler and Charlton were joined

on the practice tee by Hunter Mahan. Then Jimmy Walker showed up. Then came Jordan Spieth and

his University Place native caddie Mi- chael Greller. There was betting and razzing.

Even Greller, who caddied in the same group as Charlton on Open- ing Day at Chambers Bay, took some jesting gruff from Spieth after being fooled by some slippery slopes.

Charlton shared some setup his-

tory from the 2010 U.S. Amateur, and while the eventual Chambers con- queror listened, Spieth avoided the visual temptations to stray away from the hole and aim at the built-in kicker slopes that loom so large. “Actually, Jordan was interesting,”

Charlton said. “He said, ‘I’m going to hit my clubs to my spots. I’m going to play this golf course the way I think I should play it. I’m not going to get caught up thinking about all these slopes that you can use.’” It’s tough to argue with the sim-

plistic strategy from the 21-year-old. Fowler, on the other hand, opened with an 81 in the first round, the second-worst score in the entire field. “Rickie’s a feel player,” Charlton

said. “He told me on that Sunday, ‘Wow, you can just overthink this thing.’” Tiger Woods had a similar reac-

out there when I played my practice round today,” said Woods, who would play in the same group as Fowler and open with an 80. That roadmap-less feeling was

exactly the reaction Charlton and RTJ II were trying to achieve. “At least six of the holes we designed to be tweeners—holes that could be par 4s or par 5s, or par 3s or par 4s. We wanted to give the USGA the canvas to have the ultimate flexibil- ity in what they wanted to do. I think (USGA Executive Director) Mike Davis really embraced that idea.” Nos. 1 and 18 alternated as par 4s and par 5s depending on how they were set up, No. 4 played as a par 4 (it’s an uphill, 480-to-530-yard par 5

Dustin Johnson takes aim at the 17th hole during the third round of this year’s U.S. Open at the RTJ II-designed Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.